When it was announced a few weeks ago that VICE would be moving to a new office space further south into the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, speculation immediately ran wild that their offices would take over the space currently occupied by two of Brooklyn’s leading independent rock venues, Glasslands Gallery and Death by Audio. Fortunately for all parties involved, it seems that that the rumors of these venues’ impending demise are greatly exaggerated.
While it is true that VICE Media is moving its headquarters into the complex that houses Glasslands, DBA, and the dearly-departed 285 Kent, VICE spokesperson Laura Rothkopf said that their lease does not include the space occupied by Glasslands.
Glasslands co-owner and booker Rami Haykal confirmed that VICE would not be taking over their space.
“We still have a few more years on our lease and it’s business as usual for us,” said Haykal.
DBA manager Edan Wilber also confirmed that they did not have plans to be moving anytime soon, but added, “We’ll see how that goes when our lease is up.”
While it remains to be seen if either venue withstands the test of time (or the more pressing threat of neighbors like VICE driving up the cost of rent), this news means that local music fans will still be able to see shows in two of Williamsburg’s best venues for at least a little while longer.
In the meantime, VICE is preparing to more than double its 400-person staff as they move into their new 60,000-square-foot space on South 2nd Street and Kent Ave, which they hope will become a “freaky, space-age utopia that will give today’s creative visionaries a place to produce astonishing stories.”
